


Danny's Death Day

by Rayla_the_spirit_guide



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Ectober (Danny Phantom), Ghost Zone (Danny Phantom), Origin Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26521057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayla_the_spirit_guide/pseuds/Rayla_the_spirit_guide
Summary: This is my imagining of how Danny obtained his powers, and the lead up to the 'incident'.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jack Fenton, Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton & Maddie Fenton, Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	Danny's Death Day

Today was the big day, or so Danny’s parents kept blabbering on about. His parents, Madeline and Jack Fenton, were ectologists, professionals in all things supernatural and unexplainable. In university they had studied ectology as a side endeavour to their engineering and science degrees, and had developed a prototype for their current invention then. It had been a dramatic failure, and resulted in the injury of one of their colleagues, but still the Fentons pressed on to explore the depths of this largely criticized field of science. And so, with years upon years of research on their side, today was the day the Fentons would finally open a stable portal to the other side.

Of course Danny and his sister Jazz, three years his senior, believed anything supernatural to be complete nonsense, and being scientists their parents really should have known better (or so Jazz had constantly reprimanded them about). Danny huffed dramatically as he slumped down onto the lab bench and crossed his arms. The fourteen-year-old boy distractedly tapped his foot as he pondered the day’s events. He and Jazz had been rather rudely woken up at an ungodly hour (only an hour before his usual alarm, actually) and shoved out the door for school. Their parents insisted it’d be safer if they were out of the house as they finished up on their project, ready for the big reveal in the evening.  
He had grumbled his way to school, bitter about his parents’ scientific obsession, which had taken up their time for the better part of the last four years. He didn’t understand their science, and was indignant that his parents were the laughing stock of the scientific community, which filtered back to his peers at school. However, he did admire their enthusiasm and determination. While this project had taken up a significant amount of time, he appreciated the rare moments they had given up to be with their children. Maddie, outside of her hazmat suit and lab goggles, was an adoring mother who loved baking cookies and showering her kids in hugs and kisses. And Jack, who was hardly out of his lab clothing regardless of the occasion, had a heart as big as his bear-like body, and always knew how to cheer Danny or Jazz up.

With that in mind, Danny desperately hoped and prayed that the past four years of near neglect weren’t for nothing.  
Beside him were his two best friends, who both stared absently around the Fenton Works laboratory. The two scientists had converted the basement of their townhouse into a modern science research workshop. Tucker, with his signature red beret and his smartbook tablet on his lap, brushed his eyes over the many pieces of silver technology scattered around the metal workbenches of the lab. The walls were littered with schematics and blueprints, which he actively studied. A few faded Polaroids of Maddie, Jack and one other frequented the space, as did several articles on ghost sightings. Sam’s eyes had a glimmer of intrigue at the eccentricity of the room, her retro gothic get-up juxtaposing the futuristic workshop aesthetic. She leant over her knees and cradled her head. Tucker idly tapped his tablet. Danny’s dark hair fell over his soft-blue eyes in uncontained clumps, but he paid it no attention. He would rather have been playing video games with his friends. And from the disgruntled looks on Sam and Tucker’s faces, who had been waiting (im)patiently or an hour, he could tell they felt the same. Across the room Jazz sat with a straight back, one leg crossed over the other, with her head buried in a book about the psychology of crazed scientists. She occasionally looked up to shoot a sharp look at her parents, as if assessing them according to what she was reading.

On the far end of the basement lab was a great hexagonal archway lined with heavy metal plating, accentuated by black and yellow tape on the outside. The tunnel behind it stretched back into the ground until it faded to shadow. The inside was covered with the same silver metal panels, multiple grooves and buttons littering the inside. The large burley figure of Jack stood inside leaning against the wall with a spanner, his orange jumpsuit piecing through the darkness. Maddie, in her turquoise suit, stood in front of the three adjacent monitors, speedily typing equations and algorithms into the keyboard. She paused for a moment to check her watch. Gasping, she called to her husband to emerge from the tunnel. With one final tweak of the spanner, Jack came into the open and took in an apprehensive breath. Maddie wrapped her arms around his left arm and kissed him on the cheek. They stayed like that for an anxious moment before separating as the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the top of the stairs. The scientists went to stand at the bottom landing, waiting.

From the stairwell emerged two official looking men. Both had clean-shaven heads and briefcases held by their outside hands. The odd thing about them was their suits, which were a stunning shade of pure white. They both introduced themselves (in an overtly obnoxious tone) as agents ‘K’ and ‘O’. Danny pondered their choice of outfit. As if echoing his thoughts, Sam murmured to her friends, “Well that’s a bit impractical, isn’t it? I mean, black is so much more versatile.” She pointed to her own outfit for example, a sly grin on her face.

Tucker added, “Yeah, they give me the creeps. Who are they?”

Tiredly, Danny slightly sat up and sighed. “They’re from a sub-government agency called the Guys In White, or G.I.W. They deal in the same whacky “science” as my parents.” Danny made quotation marks with his fingers for emphasis.

“Never heard of them. And you know me; I know everything concerning technology,” Tucker stated, waved his tablet proudly in the air.

Sam scoffed sassily as she crossed her legs and arms. “Well, imagine the outcry if the public discovered that their government was funding supernatural research.” Tucker acquiesced and pondered, glaring at the small silver guns that sat on the agents’ belts.

“They’re the ones funding this bloody thing,” Danny continued, waving a lazy hand in the general direction of the portal. He sighed and looked to the metal floor. “Probably is a big waste of time.”

“Hey, c’mon, Danny,” Sam encouraged, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Your parents promised to drop ectology entirely if this thing doesn’t work.”

“Yeah,” Tucker added, his energy helping lift Danny’s heart. “This is their big break, or not. And if it does work, then it’ll all be worth it. Imagine what we could learn from it.”

Danny pulled back his shoulders and smiled softly. “Thanks, guys.” He was grateful for his friends’ support, but still wasn’t entirely comforted. What he hadn’t told them is that if the portal failed, then his parents would have to pay the G.I.W. back, and he knew, even as a fourteen-year-old, that that wasn’t possible. He didn’t want to worry them with that - his parents hadn't even told him. But money was the least of his worries if this failed. He could almost hear his school peers jeering “The Fenton Failures”. Danny sighed. I bloody hope this works.

By now his parents had warmly greeted the eccentric agents and they had taken a standing position beside the computers, each with a tablet at the ready to assess. Jazz had finished scolding both her parents and the agents about the illegitimacy of ectology, which resulted in a stern lecture from her mother. Now Jazz sat in her original spot with a frown, looking the other way, suddenly fascinated with a strand of her fiery locks. Danny had been staring into space when his father’s booming voice distracted him from his musings. “Hello, and welcome, one and all, to the grand opening of the Fenton Works Ghost Portal!” He waved a large black-gloved hand dramatically at the archway. “To our esteemed guests, Agents K and O from the Guys In White, thank you for joining us on this fantastic day. Today, we make scientific history!” Danny couldn’t help but roll his eyes, but he smiled at his dad’s dramatics.

Maddy stepped forward, her energy more controlled but no doubt as equally vibrant. “As you all know, ever since our uni days, Jack and I have been studying the field of ghosts and the supernatural. And after all the scrutiny, criticism and jokes, today our twenty-plus years of research will pay off. We have hypothesized, beyond reasonable doubt, that there is a physical realm in which otherworldly creatures inhabit. This realm opens itself up to the real world all the time, allowing supernatural entities to explore and roam our lands, to haunt humans and destroy lives. But those portals are unstable and disappear very quickly. Today, we will open a stable, constant doorway to this realm, to the Ghost Zone. And from there, we will research the ectoplasmic beings, in the hopes of finding a way to permanently sever the connection between the two worlds.”

Maddy finished her speech and took in a deep breath as she watched the agents type on their devices. She nodded to her husband with a steeled face and confident smile. Jack walked over to the side of the portal where a large lever was positioned. It was a hefty stick of silver metal lined with black and yellow tape. Currently the stick pointed downwards to the ‘Off’ position. Jack turned to address the audience. “Final test for Project Portal. Date: Sunday sixteenth of February two-thousand and twenty.” Danny and Jazz leapt from their seats together. Jazz’s book fell to the floor. Danny stared desperately into the tunnel, pulling at his fingers nervously. The siblings shared a hopeful glance before returning their attention to the portal. Jack puffed his chest and clutched the lever with both hands. With one final tentative gasp he yanked it upwards. Jazz and Danny huddled together as the giant heavy doors of the portal slowly closed, two panels on either side sliding to meet in the centre. Maddy grasped her goggles tightly with one hand as she held her breath, and pressed a button on the console. Jack hadn’t let go of the lever. A dead silence echoed around the ambient room. Then, a quiet whirring buzzed in the distance. Danny clenched his toes and fists at his side. But the buzzing stopped abruptly and another silence followed. For a few painful moments the tension was palpable before Maddy finally broke it with a curt nod to her husband. He pressed a button on the side wall, leaving the lever in the ‘On’ position, and surely the doors slid open again, only to reveal the blinding darkness of the empty tunnel. Maddy and Jack shared a look before running over to the computers. They fiddled through files and equations muttering, swearing, grunting. The two agents merely slid their tablet back into the briefcases and turned to leave.

Beside Danny, Jazz grunted angrily. “Called it.”

“Jazz!” the boy snarled. She simply glanced at him and lifted her chin.

“Now they can focus on being parents. I’m going to the library to study.” And surely, she spun on her heels and was gone.  
Danny turned his attention back to the portal, glaring at it with such an intensity he was sure he could will it to turn on with just his mind. His parents were scrambling through papers and equipment. Jack noticed the G.I.W. agents departing and dropped everything he was doing to run after them. Danny vaguely heard him mention that he and Maddy were going to the G.I.W. headquarters. He assumed his parents had a lot of explaining to do. But Danny could not tear his eyes from the darkness of the failed invention. He ran his hand through his messy hair and sighed. He was like that until he heard the vans pull away on the street above.

Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker were standing apprehensively to the side, frozen in the previous awkwardness of the Fenton scientists’ humiliation. Sam looked over to her friend, his eyes wide in shock and sighed. “Danny…” she began.

“I can’t believe it,” he whispered.

“Danny,” Sam repeated.

“No. This – this wasn’t meant to happen. I – it was meant to work.” He looked up with pleading eyes to his friends. “Why didn’t it work?”

“I don’t know man,” Tucker said, taking a step forward to stand next to him. “After all their research, I guess it…” He glanced at Danny, eyes fixated on the portal. He didn’t want to say the next bit. “I guess it really isn’t real.” Danny seemed to implode on himself. “Or we just don’t have the technology yet to support your parents’ genius science?”

“Just forget about it, Danny.” Sam insisted.

Danny stepped forward and placed his hand on the side of the portal. “Forget about it?” he scoffed. “How do I forget four years of neglect?” There was an aggressive edge to his voice, but he sighed and walked over to the monitors. All anger dissipated into tired longing. “I know my parents love me – and Jazz – but… it’s still annoying. They must be so crushed…” An idea sparked in his mind. He steeled himself and marched over to the rack of laboratory hazmat suits. He grabbed one and pulled it over his NASA t-shirt and jeans. The main body of the jumpsuit was white, but the collar was lined black. He slipped on corresponding black gloves and boots. His mop of obsidian hair complimented the outfit.  
Sam rolled her eyes at his antics. “What are you doing, Danny?” she breathed, only half expecting an answer.

“After four years of all their hard work, I’m not gonna just let them walk away as losers. I gotta do something.” He turned to face the void of the tunnel and paused. “I have to do something.” His voice echoed hauntingly around the metal shaft. He took one step forward, entranced by the soft glow of the shadowy channel.

“I don’t know about this,” Tucker voiced.

“Let him.” Tucker was horrified at Sam’s suggestion and told her as much “What? It’s not like it works anyway. Let him wallow. Goths do it all the time; it’s cathartic.” Tucker shrugged and sat back down, fiddling away on his tablet.

By now Danny had tuned out his friends’ conversation. The pristine silver panels and intricate metal work was beautiful. He saw the buttons up close now and fingered them gingerly. He saw another lever right at the end of the 10m long tunnel. It was positioned in the ‘Off’ position however its handle was facing up. Above it was a small metal plate indicating it as an emergency closing mechanism. Next to it was a button labeled ‘Engaged’. He stared at it quizzically. For some reason, he recalled that the outside lever was on, and the button was pressed. Without a second thought he marched down the column of metal and tapped the button. For a moment nothing happened. But then, a fluorescent green light bubbled at the end. He stared into it, ignoring the shouts of exclamation from his friends. The unearthly glow was intriguing, cold yet inviting. It eddied and swirled, growing and pulsating. Soon, the entire back wall was engulfed in the ectoenergy and instant dread flooded through Danny. Within a heartbeat, Danny spun around and shoved the lever down with all his might, ensuring the dangerous energy was trapped inside the tunnel, protecting his friends. He caught their horrified expression just before the doors slammed shut, and he was pierced with the full force of the Ghost Zone.

***

Sam and Tucker squeezed each other in a hug as panic clouded their minds. They both shut their eyes tight and yet tears spilled through. A strange light had emanated from the back of the portal. Danny had pulled a lever. And just before the doors shut on their friend, they saw his eyes wide with calm panic as he was engulfed by the energy. His screams ran out until his voice went hoarse, and even then his screams crescendoed into a haunting wail. Tucker and Sam had scrambled to the computers and doohickeys to try anything to open the portal and rescue their friend. But they had collapsed just outside the closed doors onto each other, helpless. There were no adults to help them, no one to call as Danny suffered. They were frantic, stock-still, and petrified as Danny’s deathly cries of agony were branded into their memories.

***

Pain. An icy fire coursed through his body. It contaminated his blood stream, his organs, his skin and every cell, destroying everything like a river of lava over forest. And then once the deathly sensation seeped into every atomic structure, he was ripped apart with a coldblooded jerk. His mind went blank, but instead of fading into darkness, he awoke in pure peace surrounded by a white ether. He went to lift his hands but realised he had no body. He was simply energy, a consciousness, floating in this immaterial world.

Where did the pain go? Where did that pain come from? He could hardly remember. He figured he should be frightened, yet at the same time, didn’t feel he needed to be. All that he could comprehend in this realm was the bliss that floated around and through him. It was so inviting, he could almost forget what had been, without caring for what will come. The atmosphere wrapped around his consciousness like a warm, heavy blanket, lowing him into another world. It was so inviting…  
Not yet! He jolted back into the present. The ether seemed colder now. Danny sensed another consciousness approach him, however he was certain space and time were redundant concepts in this world… He felt the other stream of energy swirl around him, its energy profound and rooted in a meaning he could not comprehend. It spoke without a voice but Danny understood nonetheless. It was giving him a second chance. Within there was a thread of danger, but an even greater hope overshadowed the doubt. Without hesitation Danny reached into the stream and felt as their energies combined, overpowering his sensations, and drawing him back into the physical.

The agony flooded into his mind once again, his atoms annihilated by the ectoenergy. Quickly, his body was stitched back together, atom by atom, by the foreign energy, and he welcomed it. He screamed through the pain as his DNA was remodelled, half his human cells being replaced and rejuvenated by ectoplasm. In a flash of neon emerald he felt a flood of icy coolness embrace him. He was floating now in a sea of green mist, but seeing the doors of the Ghost Portal through the fog comforted him. He was home. He approached the doors. Surprisingly they slid open for him to exit the portal and re-enter the human world. The lab was beyond the exit, as familiar as ever. In the centre of the cold metal floor two figures were huddled together. He stepped out of the mist and into the light.

***

Sam sobbed on Tucker’s shoulder, as he did on hers. Tucker stared into space. He was frozen, and could not will himself to move. Those screams, Danny’s screams chilled him to the bone. They sucked the life out of him. And now it was all Tucker could do to keep himself together. By now, Sam had dug her nails into his back, but he didn’t care. Perhaps the pain would distract him from… He shot up, ripping himself from Sam’s embrace. That same sickly green as before illuminated the lab. Dread seized him. A slight creak drew his attention to the portal. An unearthly energy slithered through the slit between the doors as they slowly slid open. A thick emerald mist obscured the tunnel. He tapped Sam and she gripped onto him in horror as they both watched a shadow emerge from the portal. It stepped out of the green swirl and into the dim lab.

It was humanoid, but its form was vague, wrong. An ethereal glow pulsated from the form, but that’s not what caught his attention. The eyes blazed a deep toxic green that screamed power. They were as alive as they were dead in their supernatural energy. The figure’s white hair floated in an absent breeze and its body was covered in a black bodysuit, the boots and collar a stark white in contrast. The skin – if one could call it skin – was near translucent, like pearl under a full moon. Sam shrieked, scrambling backwards. Tucker stopped breathing and clenched every muscle in his body as he beheld the figure before them. The ghost – he assumed it was a ghost – jumped back in shock at their reactions.

“Sam, Tuck,” it hissed. The voice was unsettling as it echoed unnaturally. “Guys… It’s me” The figure held its arms out defensively. Slowly the radiant glow dampened and Tucker could fully see the ghost’s face.

Suddenly realisation hit him, but the words were caught in his throat.

Beside him Sam jumped up with a gasp. She went to speak, but was also lost for words. “Da…” she stuttered finally. “D - Danny?” Not an it, not a ghost, but…

“Danny!” Tucker exclaimed, dread and intrigue littering his tone. He dared not step forward. Was he dreaming? A quick look at Sam assured him that this was real. But it simply couldn’t be – Danny couldn’t have been standing before them…

Danny titled his head to the side and frowned. His fearsome eyes deepened with concern. Looking down he observed his white-gloved hands and black suited body. Wisps of white hair fell in front of his eyes and he gasped, taking a strand in his fingers. He twiddled the hair between his thumb and forefinger, his frown deepening. His vague form continued to shift and move, like waves forming and falling upon each other. He was a contradiction of physical and immaterial and yet he was standing before Sam and Tucker, existing. With another glance at his friends, Danny turned to the portal. 

He grunted in disbelief. “I must have… died.” He scanned his body once again and then walked – no – floated to a blank monitor and stared into the black mirror. His eyes went wide, not with horror, but with surprise, and Tucker thought he saw a glimmer of relief in those haunting eyes, too. “I’m dead,” he whispered. “But – wait…” Danny turned back to face his friends and placed both feet firmly on the metal floor. “I am also, still, alive.” And with that a ring of blue-silver light appeared at his waist, before splitting and travelling the length of his body, up and down. The black and white suit was replaced by the simple t-shirt and jeans Danny was wearing earlier that day, and his green eyes and white hair reverted back to their natural blue and black. Now, Sam took a meek step forward. There was Danny, looking as he always did, looking human. And yet…

“We heard you,” Sam whispered, her breath shaking. She clutched her chest with both hands trying to steady her body. Her hair was on end. “You screamed…” She resumed sobbing, running her hands through her dark hair, eyes lowered.

“We thought we lost you,” Tucker coughed, clearing his tight throat. He had ripped his beret off his head and was clutching it in a white-knuckled fist. Tears streaked his face. Danny, for the first time, registered this notion. Fear slid over his face like a shadow and he looked back at his reflection. He shook his head and gasped. Shakily, he turned to face his friends and said, 

“Well… I’m back.”


End file.
